I ran a half marathon once, and it was awful.
Well, that’s an exaggeration. Crossing the finish line was the best feeling in the world. Setting a goal, training for months, and seeing the results of my hard work was well worth it.
But friends, it was really hard.
Training was long and frustrating and it took over my entire life. I would get up on Saturday mornings and go for a run. Two. hours. later. I would get back. Buh-bye relaxing Saturday morning. Hello, ferocious appetite and aching joints.
But after a few months of lost weekend mornings, I did it. I got up that one final Saturday, safety pinned a racing number to my shirt, and ran 13.1 miles. (Yes, the .1 matters. It matters a lot.) And when I finished, I was so thankful for the Saturday mornings I spent preparing to get me there.
My half marathon experience showed me what the Apostle Paul meant when he talked about the difference between running aimlessly and training to win a prize (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). A lot of my training runs felt pointless at the time. I could easily convince myself from the warmth of my covers that I could skip one Saturday and be okay. There was a persistent voice in my head that would say crazy things like, “People run half marathons all the time; it can’t be that hard. Just show up on race day and go for it. Don’t waste your time training now.”
To succeed, I had to have a plan and I had to stick to it all the time, even when I didn’t feel like it.
I wrote out my training schedule and set alarms on my phone that reminded me to bite the bullet, get out of bed, and run until I couldn’t run any further. I told people I was training so I would be held accountable for what I committed to. I ate copious amounts of food to keep up with my increased metabolism (AKA — the bright side!).
Looking back on my training regimen, I can’t help but wonder — why should our prayer lives be any different?
Miss Clara, the wise leading lady of the film The War Room (which comes out this weekend! Yay!) says, “To win any battle, you’ve got to have the right strategy and the right resources because victories don’t come by accident.”
To secure victory in our spiritual battles, we need a plan. We need accountability. We need strategy. We need commitment. We need to know the voices that tell us training is overkill are lying. Even when we don’t feel like it, we need to believe enough in the power of prayer to fight our battles on our knees.
We’re training to get a prize that will last forever. And we need a strategy to secure victory. The Battle Plan for Prayer Bible Study will give us just that.
This 8-session study features teaching by Alex and Stephen Kendrick on the topics of: what prayer is and is not, why God wants us to pray, specific areas of prayer, specific strategies for prayer, and more. And today, we’re giving away a Battle Plan for Prayer Leader Kit! To enter, simply fill out the form below.
What about you? Have you ever had to create a “battle plan” to accomplish a goal? Have you ever come up with a “battle plan” for prayer? We’d love to hear from you in the comments!
By entering today’s giveaway, you acknowledge Lifeway Christian Resource’s official promotion rules. Today’s giveaway starts at the posting time of this blog and ends Monday (08/31/2015) at noon (12:00pm) CST. You must be 18 to enter, and you may only enter once. The winner will be selected at random. Only participants who live in the United States or Canada are eligible to win. For questions about the rules and regulations of this giveaway, please contact Heather Warfield at One Lifeway Plaza, Nashville, TN 37234-140.
Heather Warfield, the Lifeway Women Marketing Coordinator, is an optimist, coffee lover, and guacamole enthusiast from Michigan who currently plants her feet in the sweet, sweet south. Her favorite things include, but are not limited to: lakes, trees, sunshine, good talks, fair trade chocolate, new experiences, and people who think she’s funny.
